Congratulations on your engagement…What a wonderful and exciting time in the life of you and your fiancé! You have taken the first step in making an outward declaration of your love and devotion to one another, and there is nothing more romantic than that.

The relationship you have with your partner is one in a million, unique, and the two of your have a story that matches no other couple’s in the world. Your wedding should reflect that tiny nuances and distinctive tastes of the two of you. While scourging through bridal magazines for ideas is always smart, and highly recommended, sometimes you need to look no further than each other to find the theme and style of your upcoming wedding day.

Below are a list of topics, questions, and every day occurrences that could lead you to finding that special touch for your special day.

• Where/how did you meet? A chance meeting in a bookstore could lend itself to invitations created in the style of small, handheld poetry book. That idea could be followed up by naming each table after a favorite author, and scrolling your favorite passages on parchment paper and leaving them for each guest. If you met at college, or at work, you may be able to use the facility for your rehearsal dinner, or your actual wedding!• What was your proposal like? For couples that got engaged in a park, autumnal leaves make a beautiful insert in your invitations. If the moment took place in a restaurant use the color of the room for your bridesmaids’ dresses to bring back the feeling of those first moments together. Perhaps your family helped plan with your fiancé, in which case you could have a parents or sibling gift a special toast to recount the story not of your engagement, but of the planning that went into it.• What room of the house do the two of you spend the most time in? For those of you who spend time cuddled up on the couch, you may gift out chenille throw blankets and a bag of popcorn as your gifts. If you love being in the kitchen, cooking together, you can have your caterer design a menu of your favorite dishes, and note why each one is so special to you on table tents.• What kind of hobbies do you enjoy together? If traveling is a priority for you as a couple, use it as a metaphor to highlight the journey you are taking into marriage. Wine connoisseurs can have a fruit and cheese display brought out after dinner with a special wine paired with it. Couples that enjoy the outdoors may wish to wed on a golf course or along the water.
• If you could only tell one story about your relationship, which would it be? Figure out what it is about that story that is so special to the two of you, and use it in your vows. It is the way he can always make you laugh, or the fact that you are compulsive about organizing everything from the pantry to your closet? Make a brief (and appropriate) mention of what you love about how you two interact in your vows, allowing your guests to see a more personal side of your relationship.• Share your snacks! – A wedding cake is not the only option you have for dessert. Have servers pass out individual slices of cake with a chocolate chip cookie on the side, or maybe a miniature chocolate candy bar.• Recreate a Special Time & Place – Talk to your wedding consultant about recreating a location that means a lot to you as a couple. If you fell in love while walking through Central Park see about bringing in rented trees and benches for a similar feeling. For those who love to garden, set up rose bushes and trellises in the corners. Or maybe the best times you share happen in your living room – why not set up a corner of the cocktail reception with big stuffed couches, a temporary fireplace, and framed photos taken out of your house?

Regardless of what you two choose as a marker or theme for your event, don’t forget to share it with your guests. A small mention in the program or on the menu of what you have chosen to do and why is all guests needs to have a long lasting emotional connection to the day, and to the two of you.

Andrea Eppolito is Director of Catering & Special Events at BOA Steakhouse and Sushi Roku at the Forum Shops at Caesars. Initially trained as a Wedding Consultant, Andrea branched into the Convention Market before expanding into sales, marketing, and public relations. Since relocating to Las Vegas from New York, Andrea has contributed to the success and growth of the Food & Beverage industry while opening and working with the Bellagio Resort, The Venetian Resort, Lake Las Vegas, and Caesar’s Forum Shops. She is also the proud recipient of the 2002 Special Event Gala Award for Best Event Entertainment.

All ideas, opinions, and suggestions in this document are the intellectual property of Andrea Eppolito.No theme, idea, or wording is to be replicated, paraphrased, or published without the direct written consent, permission, and compensation of Andrea Eppolito.